Dan Hardy
PFL chief

I wasn't expecting this in the early rounds, I thought he would save his energy for his strikes. Maybe he wants to put Van Steenis on the back foot and make his energy, because he is a big middieweight.

Edwards springs out from his stool in the southpaw position but catches a hard leg kick from Van Steenis. It knocks Edwards off balance but he manages to recover his balance. Edwards goes for his third takedown attempt and Van Steenis catches him for the third time.

Edwards knocks Van Steenis down with a beauty of a kick and brother Leon shouts, "Don't let him up".

Image source, PFL

Dan Hardy
PFL chief

The feeling out process in the first round. They went back and forth a few times. I'm glad we have four more rounds of this, we are going to need it to separate those two.

Decent opening round for both in Madrid but I have Edwards taking it.

He seemed to deal out more of the damage.

The left eye of Van Steenis is pouring with blood after some heavy blows from Edwards land.

Edwards goes for a takedown attempt but gets it all wrong and the Spaniard can defend it. Edwards goes for the takedown again, but again it's not great and he has to give up top position.

Dan Hardy
PFL chief

Van Steenis is giving Edwards a lot of respect here, he clearly knows the dangers that he respresents.

Dan Hardy
PFL chief

The trap that Costello could fall in to is giving Fabian too much time and space. If he gives him too much respect, he could fall in to the traps that Fabian is setting.

Pace is Costello's friend.

A brilliant kick to the calf from Edwards knocks Van Steenis off balance. Edwards tries to capitalise with some strikes but the champion does well to duck under and avoid any significant damage.

Van Steenis has Edwards up against the cage but the referee warns them to separate and Edwards uses his chance to chuck in some heavy elbows as they break.

Image source, PFL

Votes are in - most of you going for the Brit!

The bell rings and you can feel the tension from Madrid here in Salford.

It's three wins on the trot for Costello van Steenis.

A tough ask for Fabian Edwards tonight.

Boos for Fabian Edwards as he's announced to the crowd. He'll take all of this in his stride as he looks to bring the title back to Birmingham.

Paul Battison
BBC Sport journalist

Costello van Steenis had a funny response a few weeks ago when I asked him what it was like to grow up learning MMA around Benidorm.

"Why do you think my English is so good?" he said.

If any of you have ever been to Benidorm, you'll know there are a lot of British holiday-makers there.

Van Steenis went on to say he left to move back to the Netherlands at around the age of 20 because there were "too many distractions", but he would like to move back to Spain when he retires.

The numbers suggest tonight's main event is evenly matched...

Maybe watch out for a submission or two attempt from Costello van Steenis.

Fabian Edwards is in the cage and here comes Costello van Steenis, with some huge cheers following.

Obviously, he's got the crowd with this being in Madrid.

Costello van Steenis' title win rocketed him into the PFL's pound-for-pound rankings for their male fighters.

He sits at number four, a win might see him go up into the top three. Though we think Usman Nurmagomedov has a pretty strong grip on the number one position as it stands.

Are we about to see another Fabian Edwards knockout?

Or what about a Costello van Steenis submission?

Image source, PFL

Costello van Steenis would not have been on many people's list to end 2025 as a world champion.

The 33-year-old was a mainstay in Bellator and then slotted into the PFL when the merger happened in 2024.

Van Steenis has just three losses in 20 fights, but each of those times has seen some impressive momentum halted. A 2023 loss to former Bellator champion Douglas Lima left Van Steenis at a crossroads in his career and little expected of him, but back-to-back wins saw him given a shot at PFL champion Johnny Eblen last July.

Ebeln was unbeaten in 16 fights and had held the belt since 2022 when it was the Bellator title.

With 50 seconds left in a five-round fight, it looked like Van Steenis was once again being disappointed at the highest level. But a sudden surge in energy saw Van Steenis reverse Eblen's back position and quickly take the American's back.

He sinked in a rear-naked choke and put Eblen to sleep with nine seconds to spare. A hail-mary win for the history books.

Victory has seen him rewarded with a dream fight at home as champion. It's never over till the bell rings!

Image source, PFL

Paul Battison
BBC Sport journalist

Should Fabian Edwards win tonight, he and his brother Leon, who is a former UFC welterweight world champion, will join a select group of siblings to both win world titles in major promotions.

Anthony Pettis is a former UFC lightweight champion, with his brother Sergio later winning the Bellator bantamweight belt.

Patricio Pitbull is a former Bellator featherweight and lightweight champion, with his brother Patricky also winning the promotion's lightweight belt.

If you go back even further, Ken and Frank Shamrock both also held titles in the early days of the UFC.

I'd love to add the Diaz brothers to this list, but Nate has never won a title in a major promotion, unlike his brother Nick, who is a former Strikeforce welterweight champion.